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South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Dissertation (MSocSci (Gender Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2009.

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Other Authors: lizle.loots@mrc.ac.za
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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author2 lizle.loots@mrc.ac.za
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author_facet lizle.loots@mrc.ac.za
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2009, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSocSci (Gender Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2009.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:50.639Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
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publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30749 South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo lizle.loots@mrc.ac.za Prof M Schoeman Prof K Naidoo Loots, Lizle UCTD Verenigde nasies vredesmag operasies Gender equity Gender mainstreaming Gender Gender equality Peacekeepers United nations peacekeeping operations South african national defence force Vredesmag werkers Geslags-hoofstoming Geslags-billikheid Geslags-gelykheid Suid-afrikaanse nasionale weermag Dissertation (MSocSci (Gender Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2009. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) currently deploys peacekeeping forces as part of the United Nations’ (UN) peacekeeping operations in Africa. Until recently, few women in the military had been employed in peacekeeping positions. Little is known about what these women experience on a daily basis, how they interact with local populations and, finally, how they are supported by the UN and the SANDF in terms of gender mainstreaming and gender equality. This study sets out to explore the experiences of South African peacekeepers, particularly women, during their deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The findings from a survey of 63 women and men SANDF peacekeepers who had recently returned from deployment to the DRC revealed that women peacekeepers are predominantly restricted to performing administrative tasks and patrol duties within the safety of UN bases. Male participants were generally apprehensive with regard to women’s participation in the mission which highlights the hyper-masculine culture in the peacekeeping context. The women surveyed reported that, although they had not been actively involved in the field, they had developed close social bonds with local populations. Some women reported that they had engaged in discussions with local women about gender equality and women’s rights, and that they had attempted to inspire local women to educate and uplift themselves. These findings have important implications for peacekeeping and the role that female peacekeepers can play in the lives of local women. This study has shown that women peacekeepers are not supported or empowered and that an expanded role for women peacekeepers needs to be considered. Copyright Sociology MSocSci (Gender Studies) restricted 2013-09-09T07:28:21Z 2010-04-12 2013-09-09T07:28:21Z 2009-09-01 2009-04-12 2010-04-12 Dissertation Loots, LJ 2009, South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MSocSci dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04122010-145809/ > F10/198/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30749 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04122010-145809/ en © 2009, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Verenigde nasies vredesmag operasies
Gender equity
Gender mainstreaming
Gender
Gender equality
Peacekeepers
United nations peacekeeping operations
South african national defence force
Vredesmag werkers
Geslags-hoofstoming
Geslags-billikheid
Geslags-gelykheid
Suid-afrikaanse nasionale weermag
South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_fullStr South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full_unstemmed South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_short South African women as peacekeepers : experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_sort south african women as peacekeepers experiences in the democratic republic of congo
topic UCTD
Verenigde nasies vredesmag operasies
Gender equity
Gender mainstreaming
Gender
Gender equality
Peacekeepers
United nations peacekeeping operations
South african national defence force
Vredesmag werkers
Geslags-hoofstoming
Geslags-billikheid
Geslags-gelykheid
Suid-afrikaanse nasionale weermag
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30749
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04122010-145809/